Upon Her Return
by Vampyrlvr
Summary: SPOILER ALERT! What could have happened at the end of the movie.


A/N: Here is my version of how Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland should have ended. This has been the one-shot that wouldn't end, I've been tweaking it for a few days, unable to find a decent ending for it. I'm still not thrilled with it, but I know sitting on it won't do it (or my sanity) any good. So here I am, tossing it to the masses! Please be kind! I'm thinking about adding more chapters, maybe that will give it more closure. Anyways, enjoy the story!!!!

Upon Her Return

AxHAxHAxH

Her eyes slid closed and her body slowly began to fade. She turned to mist, then vanished, the mist zipping away towards the rabbit-hole. A sigh escaped the Hatter's mouth. He had been left behind…again. He felt the shimmer of loss and loneliness pass through his brain as he turned to his queen.

"Why the sad face, Hatter?" the queen asked.

"I am sorry, my queen. On this day when we should be celebrating our joyous victory I can't help but feel…loss."

The queen gave her hatter an indulgent smile. "Do not fret, my beloved Hatter. I have a gift for you as well…."

AxHAxHAxH

Alice hauled herself up out of the rabbit hole and back into her own dreary world. She looked down and saw she was back in her dress, though it had definitely seen better days. She brushed some of the dirt off and then looked around her. Memories of the bright forest she just left assaulted her, bringing tears off loss and sorrow to her eyes. She thought of all of the people she had left behind and felt their absence keenly, some more than others. The thought of her Hatter and the look on his face when she told him she couldn't stay made the bottom fall out of her stomach.

It took Alice a good ten minutes to pull herself back together enough to head back to the gazebo and the people waiting for her there. She used the time it took for her to get out of the woods to think about what she wanted to say to who. Soon the wild, unkempt woods gave way to the trimmed and manicured garden with voices from the party carrying on the wind. With a deep, fortifying breath Alice carried on. She stepped around the row of trees and all voices stopped.

"Alice! What happened to you?!" her mother exclaimed.

"I, uh, I fell and hit my head in the woods, mother. I'm alright though," Alice lied.

"So, you have come to give me your answer?" Hamish asked, barely seeming to care that Alice may be injured. In fact, he seemed more worried about her ruined clothes. She could practically see the etiquette books opening in his mind to see what kind of damage his honor would sustain with a young woman accepting his proposal in a dirty and torn dress.

"Actually, Hamish, I cannot accept your proposal. You are not the man I need and I do not love you." Alice felt a jolt of satisfaction from the gasps this announcement earned her. She then turned her sights on Margaret.

"And Margaret, I won't just marry because it's proper, or because I may become an old maid, or because whoever proposes is a Lord," Alice announced.

"What if he was a hatter gone 'round the bend?" a very familiar voice asked. Alice spun around and looked towards the sound of the voice, everyone else having gone silent after a few startled gasps. There, standing meekly, or as meekly as one with flaming orange hair and brightly colored clothes could, was her beloved hatter.

"Hatter!" Alice cried, running forward and into his outstretched arms.

"Oh, Hatter! What are you doing here? How did you get here? I thought for sure I would never see you again!"

"I watched you leave once, I wasn't about to watch you leave again when you were finally the proper size. Especially when the queen gave me the ability to follow," the Hatter said into the top of Alice's head. Alice gently pulled away.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The White Queen gave me a vial of jabberwocky blood after you left for years of service and for remaining loyal to her even during the reign of the Bloody Red Queen," Hatter told Alice excitedly.

"So you used the blood to follow me?" Alice asked, voice barely above a whisper. The Hatter raised one arm to run a hand gently down her face with a look of confused concentration on his face.

"Of course I did. I'm mad, remember?" As he said this, Alice and Hatter's faces slowly drew closer together until they were a mere inch apart when they were rudely forced back into reality.

"What is the meaning of this!? Who is this man and what on EARTH is going on here!?" Lady Ascot shrieked, apparently having recovered from the shock of the hatter's appearance. The two jumped apart and looked out at their audience. Alice scanned the faces in the crowd then turned and took in the appearance of the hatter. She supposed she could understand where the looks of fear came from; if you did not know him, Hatter could be very scary looking. She turned her attention next on her mother.

"Mother, there is someone I would like you to meet. This is the Hatter. He is a dear, dear friend of mine from far, far away and I have known him my entire life," Alice explained, holding tightly to Hatter's hand. Her mother turned toward the strange man.

"Um, hello, Mr. Hatter. I am Helen Kingsleigh, Alice's mother. It is a pleasure to meet you," the woman said in a strong voice, though her trembling hand, which she held out to the strange man, gave her nerves away. The hatter looked at the hand thoughtfully, then toward the woman's face. He then proceeded to give a rather courtly bow and kissed the back of her hand. A few girls in the gathering giggled madly at the display.

"Hello, Madam Kingsleigh. I am the Hatter. I have created veils to cover hideous faces, hats to cover royal scandals, and caps to contain brains riddled with madness for years. It is truly an honor to meet a woman of such muchness as to produce a child made purely of muchness like dear, sweet Alice."

"If you do not mind my asking, how DO you know Alice? Where have you been child?" Helen turned to her daughter, giving her a curious and calculating look.

"The answer to that is simple, my Lady. I know Alice from her trips to Underland. Alice was in Underland, fighting the jabberwocky, and I followed her because I love her with all of my heart and wish to ask her to stay with me as my bride." There were several gasps and quite a few delighted squeals at this declaration; Helen Kingsleigh just stared, dumbfounded, at the rather blunt man. Alice was sure these people had not been exposed to so many shocks and scandalous material at once in their entire lives.

"Now see here, sir! You cannot just, just, just WALTZ in here and propose to MY fiancé!" Hamish squeaked.

"I am not your fiancé! I rejected you!" Alice shouted.

"What is waltz? It sounds like fun!" Hatter asked excitedly.

"You cannot reject me! The wedding is already planned! Your acceptance is a mere formality!"

"Mother! Is this true!?" Alice thundered, murder in her eyes.

"No!" her mother defended.

"Hamish! Don't be a fool! The girl rejected you!" Lord Ascot scolded.

"Actually, he is right, dear. The wedding is planned," Lady Ascot calmly informed him. Her face was still a little shell-shocked.

"Well un-plan it! I do not intend to have an unwilling daughter-in-law!"

"I have not actually proposed." At the Hatter's quiet declaration, barely above a loud whisper, everyone fell silent and once again turned towards Alice and the Hatter.

"Well? Are you going to?" Hamish asked.

"Am I going to what?" The Hatter asked back, a confused look on his face.

"Propose!" Hamish snapped. The Hatter gave Hamish a fairly disgusted look before pointedly looking at the crowd.

"Proposals are not things to be proposed in front of 200 people. I propose that a proper proposal should occur when it is just you two or three, depending on who you be, and perhaps a loved one or two to wish you luck and lots of flabberwalzezz on your special day of days. A proposal is not something to be taken lightly, or given on a moment's notice. Nor should a proposer of proposals be so self-centered as to assume he can propose such a proposal in front of hundreds of people, most of whom he does not even know! A proposal-"

"HATTER!" Alice managed between laughs.

"I'm ok," Hatter squeaked.

"So what do you propose to do?" Lady Ascot asked, having recovered enough from her shock to just be put off by the entire situation. Hatter looked at her, cocked his head to the side, and then turned his attention to Alice.

"Alice, this is your world. I will not stay if you wish me to fade away like a dream. I know that things in Underland were not all tea and roses and you may wish to forget your friends and experiences from there so if you wish-"

"Shhh!" Alice quickly silenced the Hatter. "I would NEVER want to forget ANY of you, ESPECIALLY you, Hatter. If you were to fade away, I would always have an empty place in my heart. I want you in my life, Hatter," Alice told him. A huge smile spread across the Hatter's face and a happy laugh escaped him.

"I may stay? Here with you?" he asked excitedly.

"Of course! I would be heartbroken if you left after showing up here!" The Hatter laughed again.

"If you two are DONE!!! Are you going to propose or not!!!!???" A girl somewhere in the crowd yelled. The Hatter shook his head emphatically.

"This is enough for now, just getting to stay. The rest will come," The Hatter explained, wrapping his arms around Alice.

"Yes, the rest will come," Alice sighed in contentment. The crowd dispersed, going to corners of the garden to gossip and wonder about the odd couple. She knew that it would take a lot of work to create a situation where the Hatter could actually live in this world and there would be a lot of trials for them to overcome, but so long as she had her Hatter and the support of her mother and sister, Alice knew that they could do it.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you teach me waltz?"

~end~


End file.
